Apex Legends won’t work on Steam Deck or Linux anymore because of cheating, says EA.
In a recent update, EA mentioned that since the Steam Deck runs on Linux by default, it’s hard to tell if a real Steam Deck is being used or if it’s just a cheater pretending to use one. You can read more about it in their announcement. Back in March 2022, Apex Legends started supporting Steam Deck, which was cool for battle royale fans. Around that time, Tim Sweeney from Epic Games said Fortnite wouldn’t be coming to Steam Deck because of similar anti-cheat worries, which EA is now facing with Apex.
EA explained further that the openness of Linux makes it a hotbed for cheaters. Cheats designed for Linux are tough to catch, and some are even disguised as Windows cheats to make detection harder. Despite the small number of players using Linux, EA noticed that these cheats were messing up a lot of games for others. Fans sometimes feel like these changes make gaming less fun.
EA decided to stop supporting Linux to keep the game fair for everyone. Even though not many people play on Linux, the impact on the game was too big to ignore. They also mentioned they’re working hard to make sure Apex Legends stays fun and playable for another decade or more, and this change is part of their plan to keep things stable as they gear up for Season 23.
For those who still want to use their Steam Decks, there’s a workaround: you can install Windows. EA pointed out that using Windows on handheld devices like the Steam Deck keeps the game playable.
